Fully fund schools

Texas should continue its ‘hold harmless’ policy through the end of the academic year.

Alief Superintendent HD Chambers puts it bluntly: In Texas, public school funding for each district is based on “warm butts in a seat.”

In the pandemic era, those warm butts might be seated in a desk inside a socially distanced classroom or at home in a pillow-stuffed bed. No matter. Butts mean bucks, as long as the school can mark their owners present for learning.

The policy is intended as an incentive to districts to maintain enrollment and to go out looking for students who don’t show up.

But what if more than a few butts don’t show up? What if they show sporadically? What if tens of thousands of them across the Houston area just go missing — without any record of having transferred to a charter or nearby district?

That’s no hypothetical. That’s the reality described by Chambers and his fellow superintendents, Grenita Lathan of Houston ISD, Rodney Watson of Spring ISD and Jennifer Blaine of Spring Branch ISD.

In a recent meeting with the editorial board, they described a troubling situation where tens of thousands of children in districts across the seven counties in Region 4 can’t be accounted for despite home visits, phone calls and other extensive efforts to track the kids down.

And those who show up aren’t always engaged or consistent in their attendance, the school leaders say, with failure rates skyrocketing: 42 percent failing two or more classes in HISD, for example, up from11 percent in a typical year.

Schools that have already endured unforeseen budget strains — technology for virtual learning, extra custodial expenditures for cleaning, reduced revenue for meal services — now expect to spend more on remedial classes, summer school and more staff to help students catch up.

Where will the money come from? Back to the warm butts. The state has agreed to a “hold harmless” policy through December that doesn’t penalize districts financially for declining enrollment — essentially paying them for kids they aren’t educating. The idea is that if the pandemic-related declines in attendance are temporary, schools shouldn’t have to lose millions in funding, forcing them to lay off teachers only to have to hire them back when the students return.

Nobody knows how long this pandemic will drag on. And just because schools are educating fewer kids doesn’t mean they’re spending less money. They still have the same staff and building costs — on top of pandemic-related spending.

The four superintendents want some reassurance from the state that they’ll be able to weather this pandemic without layoffs. They want the Texas Education Agency to extend the “hold harmless” policy through the end of the school year in May, arguing that incremental extensions only add to the anxiety and make future budgeting impossible.

“We’ve been asking for the whole year the whole time. So they gave us 12 weeks, then they gave us six weeks, and I’m just tired of having to fight this fight every four weeks,” says Chambers, the Alief superintendent. “I wish they would just own up and admit to what the situation is, what we’re dealing with, what our teachers are dealing with and quit making superintendents talk about budget cuts in the middle of this mess.”

He said school leaders understand the state’s tough budget situation as sales tax and oil revenues have plummeted during the pandemic and he said districts are willing to pay their fair share. But he also argues no one’s asking for extra money — only what’s already been budgeted for districts this school year.

Asked about their request, Education Commissioner Mike Morath noted accommodations the state had made thus far and signaled a desire to continue supporting districts on some level.

“Given the need to ensure the health of our students, teachers and staff, we have already provided unprecedented flexibility to offer remote learning, and with it, full funding,” Morath told the editorial board. “However, we know that certain districts face challenges because of significant enrollment declines, and we are working to ensure that our schools and teachers receive the additional financial support they need.”

How much support going forward is impossible to say at this point, state Sen. Larry Taylor, education committee chairman, told the editorial board: “I just don’t know how much money we’re going to have. We can’t print money at the state level.”

He said state leaders are committed to promises made in last session’s landmark education bill, HB 3, and he expects education to be the last thing cut. While he knows districts are out looking for the missing students, he said: “We can’t just keep paying you for … kids that you don’t have.”

He’s right. But these are unprecedented times. Schools are in a difficult situation not of their own making. Temporarily paying for no-show students is keeping teachers and staff employed who will be needed when the pandemic is over.

We urge Morath, Taylor and other policymakers who control the state’s purse strings to commit to fully funding districts at current levels through the end of the school year.

But whatever the decision, state leaders should communicate it as soon as possible.

Superintendents should be focused on steering the ship through the COVID-19 crisis and continuing efforts to find castaway kids who aren’t being educated. Teachers should be focused on doing their difficult jobs — not on the prospect of losing them.